Character dinner at Makahiki? Or better dinner options?

[We'reGoingToDisney]

We are going to be staying at the Marriott Ko Olina, next door to the Aulani, for 3 nights during spring break. We debated staying at Aulani, but we booked at pretty short notice and the Marriott was more affordable for a 2 bedroom condo and the room layout suited our group of 6 better, plus my parents are not Disney people. We are also spending 5 nights in Waikiki at the start of our trip. Our party is myself, DH, and our 13-year-old twins, plus my parents. My parents and DH and I all appreciate good food, especially seafood. The kids ... not so much. Sometimes they are adventurous, sometimes not - last summer when we went to WDW for the first time, we ate at Tiffins as our one really fancy meal, and in the end it was super successful but at first look at the menu the kids really weren't keen on anything (they did end up with some great food and surprised themselves with what they liked). So on this trip, we would like to plan 2 "nice" dinners, and then wing it / find cheaper local places for the other evenings. While in Waikiki, we are staying at the same hotel as the Morimoto Asia Waikiki restaurant, and we have a dinner reservation there on our first full day. I had hoped to visit Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs last summer, but it didn't happen, so I'm excited that we'll get to try his restaurant in Waikiki. Then, at the end of our trip, we are looking to book one upscale dinner in the Ko Olina area. I've read about Roy's, 'Ama 'Ama at Aulani, Mina's Fish House at the Four Seasons, and Longhi's at the Marriott. If we didn't have the picky kids, I think we'd want to try 'Ama 'Ama or Mina's Fish House - although they both look really expensive (even for Hawaii standards). But then I saw a menu on the Aulani website for the buffet dinner at Makahiki. The food seems like it would tick the boxes for the more adventurous grown ups as well as the less adventurous teenagers. And, we can get a reservation for 6:45 pm on our last night. But ... it is a character meal! I really don't know how my parents would react. They're pretty easy going, but that's certainly not something they've ever had any experience of. For myself, DH, and the kids, we had our first experience with character dining last summer at WDW, when we did lunch at Crystal Palace and breakfast/lunch at Tusker House. We really enjoyed those experiences, but we were of course at WDW and so were wanting those character interactions as part of the experience. On this trip, we are going for the Hawaiian experience. (We have all been to luaus on other Hawaiian islands before, and are not looking for a luau on this trip, just a nice sit down dinner with good food and good ambience)

So my question is, is the food at the Makahiki dinner good? Good enough that we should also muddle through with the character experience with my (older) parents and (too cool for it all) teenagers? Or would we do better at 'Ama 'Ama and try to find something the kids would eat? Or (as DH has suggested!) leave the kids to order a burger at the Marriott and just have the 4 grown ups go to 'Ama 'Ama? Or Mina's Fish House? Or ... ?

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

 

[GoingSince1990]

We really liked the buffet at Makahiki, especially the crab legs that were brought out on a regular basis! And the characters really are not that annoying; say hi, snap a quick photo, say bye, and they are gone. We liked Ama Ama too. But our best meal of the whole trip was at Noe Italian at the Four Seasons next door to Aulani. Absolutely delicious, beautiful setting, but extremely expensive!

 

[Van@Disney]

If the deciding factor is quality of food I’d skip Makahiki. We enjoyed it because we were with our 10 year old, but the food is very average, especially for the price. If you want seafood Mina’s Fish House. But, Ama Ama is quite good, just really expensive.

 

[kyton]

We visited the Buffet once - on our very first trip, that was it for us however we are not buffet people. Ama Ama and Roy’s however we visit every single trip no matter where we are staying in Ko Olina, in fact we tend to go to Roy’s more then once. We have been taking our kids since they were 6, 4 and 2 - they are now almost 15, almost 13 and 10 - and we have always found something they all enjoy.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

unless you're absolutely set on dinner being the "nice" meal, perhaps consider the weekend brunch at la hiki...pricy but may be worth it. if you want characters maybe also consider the breakfast buffet at aulani instead of the dinner one as well (cheaper)

 

[raw29983]

Ama Ama was really nice, but Noe at the Four Seasons was our favourite, My wife and I celebrated our 10th anniversary there. I've done the Makahiki dinner a few times and the food is a mid-level buffet so not what I think you are looking for.

 

[cgattis]

We personally enjoyed Makahiki for dinner (breakfast not as much, but still fine). My kids and I basically ate nothing but seafood, but DH enjoyed whatever meat he had also. We thought it was better than any other Disney buffet. I also think it’s be a shame to go right next to Aulani and NOT go see it, if you like Disney. Maybe take the resort tour before or after, too. Kids could hunt menehune or just hang in the lobby if they’re not interested.

(And I know you didn’t ask for my opinion on this, but 5 nights in Waikiki would be WAY too much for me. i wanted to see nature, not a city. I can shop anywhere.)

 

[gumbydom]

I would suggest skipping Makahiki unless you really like seeing characters every 5 minutes come to your table. We had it for breakfast and found it distracting. When it comes to buffets, I usually go all out, this time I didn't because my meal was interrupted multiple times. We had Mina's at the Four Seasons the first night and we enjoyed the live music, crayon drawing for kids on menu, open seating to the beach, and a nice surprise appetizer for kids. It's also not even a minute walk away from Aulani property. They have a nice kids menu, I don't remember seeing burgers though.

Also, we stayed at the Marriott the same trip we stayed at Aulani. Marriott has an edge in updated rooms and the beach on Lagoon 2 is nicer since they are the only property on it, although they may have more rooms than Aulani and Four Seasons combined sharing Lagoon 4. The buildings themselves are a bit vanilla. They have a lagoon pool with sand for kids, the other pools are dark. The pools are Aulani are brighter and all have lifeguards. Enjoy your trip!

 

[We'reGoingToDisney]

Thanks for all of the feedback! Lots to think about!

I looked at the menu for Noe at the Four Seasons, and it does look really good but so expensive. We are not going to be there over a weekend, so brunch at La Hiki isn't an option. I think we will try to get the grownups over to the Four Seasons for happy hour at Mina's Fish House one day - that seems like it might be a good way to experience a bit of the Four Seasons ambience without breaking the bank.

Interesting mixed feedback on the Makahiki buffet. I'm attracted to the crab legs and other seafood options, and I know my parents would be too. But as with all buffets, I guess there's the chance that it's just mediocre. I do think it would be a shame to be right next door to Aulani and not go check it out! I have a friend who is a DVC member and that's her home resort, so I've heard from her about how much her family enjoys it. So I'd like to eat at one of their restaurants for dinner, and I just think for our group that the buffet might work better than a la carte at Ama Ama. It's hard to know. For now, I've got a reservation at each restaurant, on different nights, and will try to decide if we keep them both or just one.

(And I know you didn’t ask for my opinion on this, but 5 nights in Waikiki would be WAY too much for me. i wanted to see nature, not a city. I can shop anywhere.)

We are spending 5 nights at Waikiki, but will not be spending all of the days there. We get there late on the first night, then will have a beach day (and hopefully be able to persuade the kids to walk up Diamond Head), then a very long day 6 am - 4 pm ish tour of Pearl Harbour and associated museums, then another beach day, then pick up a rental car and explore (probably the east coast), then checkout day will be another day with rental car to explore (up to North Shore?) before checking in to our Ko Olina resort, then 2 full days at Ko Olina resort just hanging out at beach and pools (and exploring Aulani and the Four Seasons), and then leaving really early the next morning. Shouldn't be too much Waikiki!

Of course things could all go south in the next 2 weeks with Coronavirus and we may have to cancel the whole trip, but I'm still making plans assuming it's going to go ahead. Fingers crossed!

 

[cgattis]

hen will have a beach day (and hopefully be able to persuade the kids to walk up Diamond Head),

I would recommend you do Diamond Head as early in the day as you can stand. It gets crowded and hot. Of course, so does the beach...

then another beach day,

We personally found the beach too small and crowded to spend more than the morning there, but if you throw in a surf lesson or canoe ride, plus maybe an early dinner and a little shopping, that might not be too bad. The pretty beaches are the ones you’ll see with your rental car....